Thibodaux actor to play a heavenly role in major movie

Published: Monday, January 16, 2012 at 1:45 p.m.

Last Modified: Monday, January 16, 2012 at 11:09 a.m.

It was around Christmastime when Henry Frost learned he had landed a role as Jesus in a Warner Bros. comedy, but the 19-year-old Thibodaux native was too excited to appreciate the irony.

“Dog Fight,” now filming in New Orleans, stars Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as two rival Southern politicians vying for a congressional seat. Frost's role comes during a scene from an over-the-top campaign commercial.

Frost, who has been getting work as an extra for some time, was picked out of the crowd to get the role because of his long hair and beard.

“I've played a bar patron, a prom go-er, a person playing in the park, but this is my first speaking role,” he said. “I got pretty lucky with it, too.”

Frost has always been interested in acting. He said he'd been offered the role of Christ before in a seventh-grade passion play but turned it down — opting to play Pontius Pilate instead — because he did not want to take his shirt off. He also acted with the Thibodaux Playhouse as a child but stopped to focus on school.

But with the advent of “Hollywood South,” the phenomenon of filmmakers flocking to Louisiana to cash in on tax incentives for the film industry, Frost had been landing quite a bit of work as an extra. So Frost, who is studying at Fletcher Community College in Houma and hopes to transfer to the University of New Orleans to study film and theater, decided to take a semester off to pursue acting full-time.

Henry's father, Bill, said that when his son told him he was going to take time off from school, he was cautiously supportive.

“I'm 100 percent for education, but he doesn't have to do it right now. He's only 19, and he has some opportunities to pursue,” said Bill Henry, who enjoys watching for his son in the background of feature films. “He's getting so much good experience in the field he wants to pursue that; right now, that's better than school. Some people get a degree and never do anything after, and sometimes the reverse is true.”

Frost told his parents he had a “good feeling something would happen,” he said. “And it did.”

He was working as an extra in a bar scene in “Dog Fight” when he was approached by a producer who asked him if he would be interested in auditioning for a speaking role, then had him ushered in a van straight to the audition.

“They said ‘You have to get off the set. If you get the Jesus role, we don't want you in the back of a bar.' You can't have Jesus drinking a beer,” he quipped.

Ryan Glorioso, of Glorioso Casting, said the incident was unusual.

“It's kind of a rare situation,” he said. “We hadn't found anyone for the role, and he was good enough acting-wise, and a combination of that and the right look worked out well for him.”

But Frost refuses to be typecast and has just earned the lead role as a gay filmmaker in “The Viewing,” an independent film being produced by a group of University of New Orleans students who plan to submit it to Sundance, Toronto and other independent film festivals.

Frost made local headlines in May 2011 for pulling a man to safety through the window of a flipped truck after he witnessed a wreck on La. 24 in Schriever.

“He's just that kind of guy,” said his father. “He's happy doing what he wants to do. I hope it works out for him.”

Staff Writer Cara Bayles can be reached at 857-2204 or at cara.bayles@houmatoday.com.

<p>It was around Christmastime when Henry Frost learned he had landed a role as Jesus in a Warner Bros. comedy, but the 19-year-old Thibodaux native was too excited to appreciate the irony.</p><p>“Dog Fight,” now filming in New Orleans, stars Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as two rival Southern politicians vying for a congressional seat. Frost's role comes during a scene from an over-the-top campaign commercial.</p><p>Frost, who has been getting work as an extra for some time, was picked out of the crowd to get the role because of his long hair and beard.</p><p>“I've played a bar patron, a prom go-er, a person playing in the park, but this is my first speaking role,” he said. “I got pretty lucky with it, too.”</p><p>Frost has always been interested in acting. He said he'd been offered the role of Christ before in a seventh-grade passion play but turned it down — opting to play Pontius Pilate instead — because he did not want to take his shirt off. He also acted with the Thibodaux Playhouse as a child but stopped to focus on school.</p><p>But with the advent of “Hollywood South,” the phenomenon of filmmakers flocking to Louisiana to cash in on tax incentives for the film industry, Frost had been landing quite a bit of work as an extra. So Frost, who is studying at Fletcher Community College in Houma and hopes to transfer to the University of New Orleans to study film and theater, decided to take a semester off to pursue acting full-time.</p><p>Henry's father, Bill, said that when his son told him he was going to take time off from school, he was cautiously supportive.</p><p>“I'm 100 percent for education, but he doesn't have to do it right now. He's only 19, and he has some opportunities to pursue,” said Bill Henry, who enjoys watching for his son in the background of feature films. “He's getting so much good experience in the field he wants to pursue that; right now, that's better than school. Some people get a degree and never do anything after, and sometimes the reverse is true.”</p><p>Frost told his parents he had a “good feeling something would happen,” he said. “And it did.”</p><p>He was working as an extra in a bar scene in “Dog Fight” when he was approached by a producer who asked him if he would be interested in auditioning for a speaking role, then had him ushered in a van straight to the audition.</p><p>“They said 'You have to get off the set. If you get the Jesus role, we don't want you in the back of a bar.' You can't have Jesus drinking a beer,” he quipped.</p><p>Ryan Glorioso, of Glorioso Casting, said the incident was unusual.</p><p>“It's kind of a rare situation,” he said. “We hadn't found anyone for the role, and he was good enough acting-wise, and a combination of that and the right look worked out well for him.”</p><p>But Frost refuses to be typecast and has just earned the lead role as a gay filmmaker in “The Viewing,” an independent film being produced by a group of University of New Orleans students who plan to submit it to Sundance, Toronto and other independent film festivals.</p><p>Frost made local headlines in May 2011 for pulling a man to safety through the window of a flipped truck after he witnessed a wreck on La. 24 in Schriever.</p><p>“He's just that kind of guy,” said his father. “He's happy doing what he wants to do. I hope it works out for him.”</p><p></p><p>Staff Writer Cara Bayles can be reached at 857-2204 or at cara.bayles@houmatoday.com.</p>